PNOY: ESTIMATED 10,000 DEATH TOLL 'TOO MUCH'

Manila, 10 Muharram 1435/13 November 2013 (MINA) – President Benigno Aquino III downplayed the estimates of some authorities that up to 10,000 may have been killed in the devastation caused by Super Typhoon “Yolanda.”

In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Aquino said local officials may have made wrong estimates since they were also suffering from emotional trauma as they were on the center of the tragedy, Phil-Star reported as quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).

“Ten thousand, I think, is too much,” Aquino said. “They were too close to the incident. They didn’t have basis for it,” he said.

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Aquino said the government is working on a figure around 2,000 to 2,500 fatalities while also trying to contact 29 municipalities to establish the numbers, especially for the missing.

At a televised press briefing on Wednesday afternoon, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the death toll now stands at 2,275 as of 2 p.m. while 3,665 people are injured and 80 remain missing.

The President said two to three affected local government units have been “simply overwhelmed” by the degree of Yolanda’s devastation while the national government is having a hard time in the rescue and relief operations.

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“What hampers the effort is that the typhoon wrought havoc on the power lines and also on the communication facilities, giving us immense difficulty in identifying needs and dispatching the necessary relief supplies and equipment,” Aquino said.

“The sheer number of the people that were affected in three provinces is quite daunting,” he added.

Malacañang said in a statement that the government is conducting “intensified operations” to address the urgent needs of those in the calamity areas. (T/P09/P03)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)